TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guards vowed Saturday that a fatwa, or religious decree, against the life of a British author would be executed.
The Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie "will one day get his just punishment for his disgraceful attack against the Koran and Prophet Mohammad."
Sixteen years ago, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa declaring Muslim-born Rushdie an apostate and sentenced him to death for his novel "Satanic Verses," which Muslims deemed as an insult to their Prophet Mohammad and the holy Koran.
The Revolutionary Guards said the fatwa was "historic and was issued at a time when the infidel leaders who advocate liberal democracy and Zionism devoted their energies to confront Islam."
The statement added that the "awareness of the world's Muslims, in addition to the firm positions of some Muslim countries at the time, showed the Islamic world has a powerful ability for solidarity against the enemies of the Koran and the Prophet [Mohammad]."
